The Lawsuits Thread

[justintime]

I want to thank everyone here who is thinking clearly and has been able to give thoughtful analysis of all we’ve been reading.

I remember in the very beginning, on Tuesday, Mr. Sherborne asked Mr. Justice Nicol if he’d had time to listen to the recordings or read any of the statements, and his answer was, “No. He hadn’t.” My anxiety started to mount right then and there.

I am so upset with the license taken by, I think it is the NGN QC Sasha Wass, to cut Johnny’s responses short, to actually have the gall to accuse him of trying to run the clock so to speak on her allotted time, and most of all to, as Newt suggested, repeatedly make a final undermining comment to Johnny’s answers that negated what he just said! Yes, DS did intervene a few times and the Judge also, but if done as often as the exchanges warranted the entire process would have ground to a stop. She deserved a severe dressing down for continually tossing out nasty, ridiculing comments, and blatantly challenging the integrity of JD’s responses without ever offering something substantive.

Mr. Sherborne has his work cut out for him. Big difference in perception between the intentionally aggressive connotation attached to “headbutting”, and accidentally “bumping heads” in the process of actually trying to prevent harm from occurring. Hope DS makes it crystal clear which hat Johnny was wearing despite the poor word choice.

Also, I thought Dr. Kipper was going to be testifying in Johnny’s favor when the witnesses start taking the stand; he apparently witnessed an incident when AH was going off on Johnny. Do we know if he is still expected to testify? And, wasn’t he one of those who stated (on the audio tape) that AH was guilt-ridden over the finger incident, claiming she was sorry and didn’t mean it? I can’t believe how that horrific incident is being turned inside out and Johnny’s defense of AH is being used against him . . .

[AdeleAgain]

Justintime I think the Judge is hopefully aware of barrister tactics in the court rooms. I hope so!

Thinking back to AH's deposition in 2016 one of the things which made her look weak was the constant interjection of her lawyer. Any reasonable person would surmise - what? She can't be trusted to answer without her lawyer hovering and interrupting. David Sherborne intervene on points of law. He wasn't holding Johnny's hand - he's a big boy and can answer for himself.

I have a feeling the Sun QC will be on her feet more often when AH take the stand.

[ForeverYoung]

This was the trial time table as of yesterday but I think Johnny will testify now on Friday.

[Lbock]

I was re-reading Samantha's declaration. She said she saw her upclose and no bruising. She heard about it after reading Amber's claims in tabloids. So if Samantha saw the filtered, shaded photos, then she would be correct that Amber didn't look like that.

[RumLover]

A few speculative (not a lawyer) thoughts.
- Justice Nicol will write a report on the case not just give a verdict as a jury would. It is possible that he could find particular witness(es) unreliable independent of the verdict. I'm not saying it's likely but a judge could decide that the article did not meet the definition of libel but say defence witness lied.
-It might be months for the judge's report.
(The Geoffrey Rush v News Group defamation case completed in November 2018 and the judge's decision was May 2019 with appeal decided July 2020.)
- The Sun might want to destroy Depp's reputation and privacy as an example to discourage others from suing in the future. Even if Depp wins, who would want to go through what he has. So the Sun continues to print poison. The Sun doesn't care what happens to Johnny or Amber after the verdict.
- If (as has been rumoured) Heard has a collection of recordings and evidence against others, her destruction of Depp will add to her potential extortion of others.

[justintime]

.... David Sherborne intervene(d) on points of law. He wasn't holding Johnny's hand - he's a big boy and can answer for himself...

Yes, AdeleAgain, one would think.

However, Johnny and Mr. Sherborne are in a pickle now precisely because Mr. Sherborne didn’t follow-up with Johnny when he’d told our “big boy” to READ his statement before signing it. Johnny did not read before signing (“I trusted my attorney”!!), and now the description “head butted” instead of the more benign and certainly more accurate “bumped heads” was used in the last incident addressed at the end of today’s cross examination of JD, adding another layer of contentious complexity to a case already teetering on a tower of needlessly “challenging” issues.

[ForeverYoung]

This is not the end of the world, imo. Head butted in an attempt to hurt her and bumping heads to avoid her going off on a physical tantrum are two different things. If he really wanted to hurt her why would he hurt his own head in the process? Doesn't make sense to me. That's the way I see it, for whatever it's worth.

[Inquiring Minds]

A few speculative (not a lawyer) thoughts.
[...]

These issues also concern me. The case is against The Sun. If, during the course of the trial, Amber's hoax is clearly revealed, they could plead that they too were victims of her "unsophisticated but surprisingly effective" hoax. Either way, they get to sell lots of media, and with what they now have in their hands (from preparation for the case), they could milk this for years. They can attack JD all they like now (in supposed good faith) then as things sour, change sides (shocked and horrified they were used to further her crimes). With their reputation already in the gutter, they could even try to claim some moral victory. They just need a target for their stories, they don't care who.

[ForeverYoung]

The Sun is using her for using her for what she is "selling", imo, for the defense of their case and yes, media attention. Makes no difference whether they believe her or not. It's really "you wash my hands' I'll wash your's" kind of scenario and besides, it is the only thing they have to try and support their lies.

From what I read, Johnny is handling this very well, calm and polite just like we expected and this isn't his first time at the rodeo with someone trying to intimidate him.

Amber, on the other hand, isn't used to this and doesn't know how to handle these type of things. She isn't going to be able to act like she did in depositions, chomping like a cow to cover up recordings, rolling her eyes, looking bored or looking at her lawyer when she doesn't know how to answer a question. When they get done with her and her witnesses who never saw anything we're going to see a whole new side of the story so let's just just sit tight because he has a lot of witnesses who have not yet testified.

[Pizarros Pies]

It might be months for the judge's report.
(The Geoffrey Rush v News Group defamation case completed in November 2018 and the judge's decision was May 2019 with appeal decided July 2020.)

I think also the judge might wait till after the VA case as the result of this will definitely prejudice whoever loses.

[AdeleAgain]

Well put ForeverYoung. And it's not just the witnesses because I am fully expecting people to lie. People who maybe never saw anything I think may yet change their story - if Whitney has said she never saw anything how are they squaring off the incident in 2015 when AH hit him just the once in defence of her baby sister. She's going to pivot her story I am sure.

So when I say it's not just the witnesses - there is the other evidence. Written documents - emails, letters where AH lied and of course the tapes in particular the first one that came out. How is she going to pivot that - from 'I was terrified of the monster' to I yelled at him on tape (and he stayed irritatingly calm) and punched ..... sorry .... slapped him? She is presumably going to go with self defence but is that really going to wash?

I am also so hoping we get to hear David Sherborne talk about some of the photos. Why no meta data? Why is the one of the December 2015 incident so different from the one which appeared on magazine covers (presumably the magazine did that she'll say - but has she previously put that into evidence?) That may of course go into the written evidence for the judge's review but I really, really want to hear how she'll explain it away - which she'll try!

I also agree with what people have said here on personality. You can see how hard it is for someone like JD who is calm and measured - he's got tired at a particular point each the afternoon and his answers haven't been as strong. I suspect AH told the Sun lawyers to try and rattle him - make him loose his cool. We saw how angry she got in her deposition and she will not like having to explain herself or be told she's wrong.

[FlowerBySea]

Hi everyone!

I haven't posted in a long time, but I'm always lurking. This thread is incredible, I feel like most of you have so much in-depth legal knowledge at this point... Some of these issues are far beyond my understanding, yet there's always someone here who has a full grasp on everything!

I've read along with Nick Wallis' Twitter 'transcripts' and so far, I think it looks pretty good for Johnny. He's holding up really well, polite as usual (I loved when the Sun's lawyer sneezed and he said bless you) and the judge seems to be fair and balanced so far, I feel.

They're obviously trying to depict him as a lifelong drug addict with a tendency towards violence, but that's not unexpected. Johnny and his lawyers knew about his past (and present), they were for sure expecting old dirt to be brought back up (the hotel incident? Really? That's something almost everybody who knows Johnny heard about, what a bombshell...) What we need to remember, someone here said it well, but I forgot who - sorry! - is that it's not up to Johnny to prove his innocence. The Sun has to give credible proof that he hit Amber. Not that he uses drugs and punches walls. So even if he doesn't come out of this looking like an angel (surprise...), at the end of the day, they still have nothing on him regarding this case.

Something that's been on my mind is how strongly Johnny really must feel about the "wife beater" slander. He went into this 100% knowing all of his issues would be brought to light, so many embarrassing, uncomfortable details are being discussed and they probably still have many up their sleeves. They showed texts Lily Rose sent him about being a better dad, they're talking about his affairs, traumatic childhood, substance abuse. A lot of which I honestly could have done without knowing. Call me naive but for example, I was very taken aback by the fact that he casually does cocaine - I mean I was aware he wasn't living like a priest, but I don't know, coke is just another level for me.

He always said he disliked being famous, that he doesn't buy into being a celebrity. I guess I imagined him living as normal a life as possible under the circumstances, but the past few days made me realize: He just IS famous. He does live the Hollywood life, because he has no other choice. I feel like I have a new understanding for what he meant when talking about his struggles with fame. It really struck me when he said his own name sounds foreign to him, because it's something I've thought about sometimes - how celebrity names sound more like brands that actual people. One day I realized Tom Hanks is actually called "Tom" and it felt like some sort of revelation that he actually has a normal people first name.

I'm not saying this meaning I hold Johnny in a lower regard - every human being is flawed, and he repeatedly said he was always fighting his own demons. He's a real person like anybody else and never tried to make anyone believe otherwise. What I'm getting at is he knew all his dirty laundry would be aired and he knows he might be letting some of his fans down, and it must be deeply uncomfortable for his kids and ex partners. I find it striking how important it must be for him to be free of the wife beater label, that is the ONE thing he will not tolerate - because it's the one thing that's just not true.

And finally, I'd like to quote Adele about the Sun's lawyer:

To be fair I think the Sun's lawyer is just doing her job. To her it's a job. This is a legal process. I don't think people insulting her on line is a good thing [...]

I've read from some people who are getting worried with how he's been interrogated, justintime, your comment was most recent I think. I have the same gut reaction to the interruptions and "you're lying", "your team is a bunch of yes-men" etc. but let's remember, these are all legal tactics that were to be expected - Johnny was most certainly prepared for this by his team. To be honest, I expected much worse from the Sun's side. And Johnny is dealing with it very well, apologizing when he is out of line, adamantly "respectfully disagreeing", standing up for himself (I assume calmly) when he needs to make a point... I think we should try to not take anything the lawyers do personally - it will be different once AH is on the stand, though.

P.S.: That story about his stalker is WILD! I could not get my mouth to close for about an hour reading through her website and legal declaration.

[gipsyblues]

FlowerBySea, thank you for your views

[gipsyblues]

Sorry, something happened to the translation program. Iam so sorry !!!
I wanted to write .... thanks for your views.

[Newt]

I've been circulating mandy's wonderful thread on Twitter documenting the witnesses and testimonies to Heard's pattern of abuse.



We NEED to circulate this as widely as we all can on Twitter.